Hey everyone. I just finished up my first watch case and wanted to get some opinions on it. I went on some watch forums to find what people wanted in an ultimate case and I could not find much besides some size requirements for the internal watch slots. Please let me know what you think and what would make an ultimate case in your opinion, what kind of features would you like on it.
This one I designed around the F-117 Stealth Fighter, incorporating a few characteristics of the shapes found on the aircraft. The front panel when viewed from the side has the same profile as the F-117 when viewed from the side. The cockpit windows has a jagged edge on a few sides so I added that detail the top window cutout. Not only does it have the stealth theme but by incorporating those shapes it allowed me to show off some really nice machined patterns.
Here are the specs on this case, this one is a 5 watch model.
Exterior Dimensions 6"T x 7"W x 17"L
Interior Dimensions 5.375"W x 16.375"L x 1.875"T height from top of interior lid to top of inserts.
Insert Dimensions 1.75"T x 2.25"W x 4"L with over 3/4" of spacing between each slot. Each slot lined with Microsuede.
The entire main structure of the case is made from machined down .336" thick carbon fiber, this allowed me to machine the channels and details I needed for the bonding process while still maintaining the .3" thickness fully throughout the body. This case has over 12 sq ft of solid .3" 670 carbon fiber used on it. The interior watch insert boxes are made out of .15" thick carbon fiber and then those are encased in yet another .25" thick carbon fiber box that is attached to all sides for extra rigidity all hidden away within the case. On top of that I've lined the interior with the .15" carbon fiber so it would lock in the row of boxes even more as well as cover the machined carbon inside, I wanted the pattern to flow the same as the exterior on this case.
For the lid it was the same .3" material used for everything except the lining which is the same .15" 670 used on the bottom structure. I machined down the window shapes and repeated it on a mirrored piece for the interior to lock the glass in, both pieces are .3" but machined to fit perfectly and lock the glass down. With everything I had seen out there for cases, any kind of case is that the glass is always extra thin and cheap. As you can see I like to build things with excessive strength so I decided to custom order .25" thick tempered glass, over $50 just for that piece of glass.
The front panel which I designed mainly to work as a way to incorporate a lift point handle was machined out of one solid piece of 1" thick carbon fiber that was 7" x 22".
The watch pillows were the hardest part of this project, for quality ones they are hard to find. I went through several kinds and even bought a few watch cases just for the pillows but I did not like any of them, the ones that looked decent were cheap feeling, foam inside and it was a nightmare but I finally came across these. These are the best I could find without having to make them myself, they even come with a little removable stand incase you wanted to display them at an angle. They are the watch winder style and they are the larger ones made for larger watches, these little guys cost $14 a piece just for pillows!
A total of over 60 hrs labor, 15 of which were on a mill, over 10 sq ft of various thickness of carbon fiber after it's all done.
I also have a video of it up that shows a lot more of the pattern detail. It's on Youtube http://youtu.be/Ko57AozD0cI
So obviously it is not for everyone, it's an overkill, way overkill but I'd like to know what you think of it and if I don't get tore up too bad on here I'll share some of my other carbon gagdets, I got some sweet humidors and coasters, iphone bumpers and sushi trays and even sake cups and shot glasses made from 2" thick carbon. Thanks.
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Originally Posted by Linos
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